LEJOG route advice please?

[Ham]

Wowbanger, how was the part of your ride up along the West Coast of Scotland

 

Must have been around the 5th November

[quixoticgeek]

Any thoughts on starting at JOG or in LE?!
Pros and cons to both I imagine..

Well isn't starting in JOG and heading for LE all down hill, and the reverse all up hill? After all North is up right?

Sorry...

J

[Paul H]

If you go North and have the time, don't finish in JoG, jump on the evening ferry and spend a day or two recovering on Orkney.     

[teethgrinder]

Any thoughts on starting at JOG or in LE?!
Pros and cons to both I imagine..

To give the opposite argument, and subjective entirely, but personally I find JoG, like most of the rest of Caithness, a bit of a barren place. Not quite as good a 'destination' as LE.
When I got there I thought ... is this it?
It is also more likely to be raining than in cornwall.

I've often thought that JOG-LE might be better for the same reason, that LE and Penzance etc is a nicer place to finish. Trouble is that it'd probably be a headwind all the way, so a harder

I think I prefer the idea of Dover-Durness, the other diagonal, so you get the very best bit of Scotland up the west coast. Saying that, you could still add the west coast to a LE-JOG and I definitely recommend it if you have the time! Even if you cut across from Inverness to Durness, you'll add on about 130 miles and have a much much nicer ride.

[mattc]

If you go North and have the time, don't finish in JoG, jump on the evening ferry and spend a day or two recovering on Orkney.   

What a smashing idea! (this is the 3rd time Orkney has come up in conversation recently ... )


[Could non-flying-phobes get back to The South on a plane from Orkney? ]

[Exit Stage Left]

The coach trip around Orkney is worth it. http://www.jogferry.co.uk/getdoc/cc44c9ff-c84b-444c-972f-bbbb9a2ff7ec/Maxi.aspx

£64 may seem a lot, but when will you ever be so near again, and you might as well see everything.

[Ben T]

Trouble is that it'd probably be a headwind all the way, so a harder

I think the wind thing is an average - for tourists, it doesn't mean you will always have a headwind south or always have a tailwind north.
When doing LE->JoG I distinctly remember having a northerly headwind when going up the A6.

In other words imho it should be more a decision making factor in which way to go for record breakers going for a fast time , than for tourists.

I think I prefer the idea of Dover-Durness, the other diagonal, so you get the very best bit of Scotland up the west coast. Saying that, you could still add the west coast to a LE-JOG and I definitely recommend it if you have the time! Even if you cut across from Inverness to Durness, you'll add on about 130 miles and have a much much nicer ride.

I've thought that'd be nice, and durness is a nice place to arrive at. Still got some (more) riding to do to get the train back though, at least 50 miles to lairg. Mind it's still 20 miles from JoG to thurso

[Paul H]

[Could non-flying-phobes get back to The South on a plane from Orkney? ]

Don't know about that, but I doubt it.
You can get a ferry to Aberdeen, which is then easier to get south from than JoG, at least by train and more likely by plane.

[Phil W]

I quite like the idea of Lowestoft to Aardamuchen  , nominally a 1000km. Add some extra sections and roll back to Fort William on quiet roads.  Nice distance for a two week tour. Then sleeper south.  We were out on the westerly roads on the Highlands 1000 this year.  Sublime.

[sib]

[Could non-flying-phobes get back to The South on a plane from Orkney? ]

Yip, check Loganair* - you can fly direct from Kirkwall to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen
*other airlines may be available

[Daveymac]

Thank you for all the replies...

This summer I left Dublin, where I live and cycled 3698kms around virtually every bit of coastline, back to Dublin.. was a great trip.. took me 24 days..

Last year I cycled from Vancouver, Canada down to Imperial Beach at the Mexican border... a fab trip..

Then the x2 previous summers I cycled down to Faro in Portugal & to Mallorca via Valencia, Spain...

So LEJOG or Jogle is next on my radar!


Re Scotland would a Westerly route be significantly more hilly and involve a lot of ferries compared to travelling the standard route up to LEJOG ?

Any feedback on cycling this solo?

Dublin Dave